Amortentia and Animals
by reikoyazumi
Summary: A little Marauder ficlet. Sirius discovers a reason to like Potions, and James plays the part of romantic catalyst.


**A/N: Many thanks to my beta Cindy, and to my lovely friend WufeiDuoForever, who made me write this. Pairings are Remus/Sirius and one-sided James/Lily. Please read & review!**

The corridor outside the Potions classroom was noisy, filled with teenage chatter and speculation. Professor Slughorn was late, and two students in particular were taking advantage of this fact.

James Potter leant nonchalantly against the cool stone wall, his wand held innocently in his hand. He was, in fact, busy casting a number of charms on a gargoyle head, one of many carved into the decorative stone frieze that spanned the length of the corridor. The gargoyle was changing colour rapidly, sprouting multicoloured hair in various styles and positions, and occasionally letting off jets of steam or glittering sparks.

A second boy joined James in his leaning. He could have been James' twin, except he wore no glasses and his hair was longer, the ends brushing his jaw at the front and his shoulders at the back. He had piercing grey eyes that glittered with mischievous intent, and his hand slipped discreetly into a hidden pocket in his robes, re-emerging with a long, slender hazel wand. He kinked one eyebrow up, an expression that was pure trouble, and flicked his wand casually at the colour-changing gargoyle, which promptly began to recite rude limericks.

This attracted a reproving glare from Lily Evans, a charming redheaded Prefect whom James had been following around for years. Sirius grinned disarmingly at her, and she shook her head, returning to her conversation. Sirius knew full well that she had a little crush on James, but was, for some reason, adamant that she still hated him. James, of course, was utterly infatuated, and Sirius had caught him composing (terrible) poetry about her a number of times.

The gargoyle was in the middle of a particularly promising rhyme about a man named Beenis, who had a big spot on his…. Well, anyway, it was in the middle of a rhyme when the portly figure of Professor Slughorn rounded the corner. The Gargoyle immediately began a list of innuendo focusing on the teacher's rather phallic last name. Slughorn simply passed it with a smile and motioned his class into the dank dungeon room that housed sixth year Advanced Potions.

Sirius and James strolled in, slinging their bags onto the wooden worktable where they usually sat. Remus Lupin, who looked very pale and whose skin carried a slightly pearlescent sheen, joined them. "Hey Moony, you okay? You look like crap." Sirius' face was concerned as he leant over towards his friend.

"Thanks, Sirius," he said sarcastically, and Sirius grinned apologetically. "Actually, I think I'm going to puke…" Sirius pulled back sharply and glanced around the dungeon, searching for guilty faces. Remus had been fine five minutes ago. Sure enough, when his gaze rested on one Severus Snape, he found his guilty party. Severus was looking very pleased with himself and met Sirius' glance with a smirk. Sirius' grey eyes narrowed. Snivellus would _pay_.

Sirius waved Slughorn over and explained Remus' predicament, and the other boy was immediately sent to the hospital wing for treatment. Sirius watched the pale boy leave, concern etched on his face. After a moment, a delicious scent assailed his nostrils, and he turned to James, who was inhaling deeply, his eyes shut. Sirius grinned and did the same, tilting his head back slightly.

Professor Slughorn smiled widely at his class, quietly observing their reactions for a moment. Black looked quite affected, he thought as he watched the dark-haired boy lean back, a soft smile on his face. Every member of the class was inhaling deeply, savouring the scent. "Today, we will be studying this rather fascinating potion," he said, indicating a small cauldron beside him. Sirius, on the front row, almost fell off his chair when the teacher spoke, as distracted as he had been. Slughorn continued, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Does anyone know what it may be?"

One hand poked up at the back of the class, and Slughorn smiled at the boy, a gifted potion-maker from his house and a Slytherin after his own heart. "Severus?"

"It's Amortentia, sir." Slughorn didn't miss the scowl on Sirius' face as Severus spoke, but he knew of their rivalry and dismissed it, turning his attention back to the sallow Slytherin.

"Indeed. Very good, Severus. And what does Amortentia do?"

"It's the most powerful Love Potion there is, sir. Its scent differs from person to person." The boy looked a little put out as he finished and glanced over at the front row of Gryffindors, an ugly look in his eyes.

"Excellent! Twenty points to Slytherin. Now, Cassandra, what do you smell, if you would share with the class?"

The girl in question, a blonde Slytherin, grinned as she replied, listing rather mundane things like caramel and lilies, and Sirius tuned her out, breathing in the wonderful aroma that only he was privy to. He was trying to work out all of its components, a task that was harder than it seemed. Suddenly, his eyes shot open as he realised where he had smelt that particular scent before….

"Mr Black? What does Amortentia smell like to you?" Slughorn was back, an indulgent smile on his features. Sirius was a little shell-shocked and replied without thinking. "Chocolate, wet grass, single malt Scotch, lemongrass and w…" the boy stopped, realising what he was about to say. He looked terrified. Slughorn smiled and prompted, "What was that last, Mr Black?" The boy had played a rather irritating prank on him last week, and this was his revenge. There was no way Sirius was going to get out of this.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and mumbled something. "Sorry, I didn't catch that?" replied Slughorn mildly. Severus was sniggering at the back of the classroom, enjoying seeing his rival taken down a peg or two.

"I _said_," Sirius lifted his head defiantly, his eyes meeting the large teacher's, "wolf." Beside Sirius, James Potter's head shot up, looking rather startled. He had been doodling absently on a piece of parchment and hadn't really been paying attention until his friend had finished his sentence.

"An interesting deviance, Mr Black," replied Slughorn, causing a wave of sniggers from the Slytherins in the classroom. The professor was also aware of some soft sighs from the females in the room, and restrained the urge to roll his eyes.

"Perhaps that just means that he likes it rough!" piped up a pretty Ravenclaw girl, causing blushes and sniggers from the girls and some rather crude remarks from the Slytherin boys on the back row. "Yes, it could mean that Mr Black here is a little…adventurous, shall we say?" The look on the boy's face was priceless, and Slughorn turned to the blackboard, another smirk creeping onto his face. They were even now. He ignored Sirius for the rest of the lesson, although he did notice that the long-haired boy did not look at James once throughout the remainder of the two-hour lesson.

Sirius escaped the lesson before James, losing the other boy in the crush of students in the corridors. He hid out in the library, where no one would think to look for him. He remained there for hours, missing all of his remaining classes for the day. A rumbling stomach signalled a missed lunch hour, and he pulled out a piece of everlasting chewing gum to sate his appetite.

"Sirius?" A soft voice floated through the dark-haired boy's reverie, startling him back into the present. Remus stood before him, holding out a forlorn-looking sandwich. Sirius took it with a soft thank you and ate it quickly, his eyes fixed on the table. He heard Remus sit nearby and waited for the other boy to speak.

"Are you all right?" Sirius considered the question. No, he wasn't, he wanted to say, but a vague affirmative murmur came out instead. They sat in silence for a minute, until Remus spoke again. "James told me what happened in Potions." Sirius tensed, his fingers clutching at the arm of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white. "What did he say?" asked Sirius, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. He was still looking everywhere but at the other boy. Remus didn't answer for a moment, drawing a contemplative breath. Sirius, without looking, knew exactly what the other boy was doing.

He could picture Remus in his mind's eye, his head tilted slightly to one side, a loose lock of hair falling across his eyes, a long, slender finger resting on his lips as his hand supported his chin. Sirius could see the look in his hazel eyes, flecked with specks of gold that sometimes seemed to make his eyes glow. This was why Sirius wasn't all right.

He was in love with one of his best friends and had been for a while. Remus loved chocolate. The midnight romps on the dew-covered grass were with Remus, in werewolf form. Remus used lemongrass shampoo, and Sirius gave him Scotch to help him recover from a bad transformation. And the wolf thing was…well, rather obvious. Still, he hadn't really realised it until the scent of Amortentia had told him.

"Sirius? Do you want to know what Amortentia smells like to me?" Remus' question took Sirius slightly off guard, and he accidentally looked at his friend. Remus' face was impassive, his 'blank face' in place.

"You went to the hospital wing," he replied, a little confused, as he looked away again.

"I did. But I came into the dungeon first." Sirius could hear a smile in Remus' voice. He began to wonder what Remus was trying to say. Sirius glanced at the sandy-haired boy again, who smiled slightly, taking this as a reply to his question.

"Mint," Sirius chewed gum almost constantly. "Vanilla," Sirius' favourite scent was vanilla, and when his trunk was left open, the entire dorm was filled with the sweet odour. "Leather," Sirius had given Remus a leather-bound book for his birthday and wore his leather motorbike jacket whenever he could. "Yorkshire pudding," Sirius' favourite food.

Sirius' head had lifted slowly with each word, and he was now staring at Remus, a rather astonished look on his face.

Remus smiled, rising gracefully from his chair. He moved towards Sirius, and knelt on the floor beside the other boy, who had lost the ability to move. Their heads were pretty much level and their eyes were locked together. "Dog," Remus breathed, and the word hovered between them, their faces close enough to count every freckle on each other. Sirius didn't have many, Remus had counted before.

"Moony…" whispered Sirius, angling his head slightly.

"Padfoot…" came the soft reply, and suddenly their lips met, soft skin brushing together, the delicate sigh of skin touching and material moving, two sets of breaths mingling together, becoming one.

Remus pulled away, smiling shyly at Sirius. "What did you stop for?" was all Sirius could say, before pulling the other boy back towards him, into a deeper kiss, his tongue stroking at the soft lips, exploring the hot space of Remus' mouth. His hands explored the other boy's body, and he shivered as he felt Remus' needy hands upon his own back, holding him tightly.

"My wolf."

James grinned from where he stood. He had come to the library to continue the search for Sirius and had found him. Apparently, Remus had gotten there first.

James congratulated himself silently as he walked away. Telling Remus had been a good idea after all.


End file.
